


Double Act

by sanctum_c



Series: Aerith Month 2018 [12]
Category: Final Fantasy VII (Video Game 1997)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Camping, F/F, Singing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-19
Updated: 2018-02-19
Packaged: 2021-03-09 20:47:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 850
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27922498
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sanctum_c/pseuds/sanctum_c
Summary: Tifa teaches Aeris a song from Nibelheim.
Relationships: Aerith Gainsborough/Tifa Lockhart
Series: Aerith Month 2018 [12]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2009521
Kudos: 7





	Double Act

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the prompt 'Song'

Tifa taught her the song beside a camp-fire out in the wilderness. Somewhere past Kalm, the two of them alone. Tifa had hummed a few bars of the tune and Aeris asked her what it was. "Something my mother used to sing to me back home. Never heard it anywhere else."

"It's nice." Aeris stared up at her, chin resting on her hand. "Just a tune or are there words?"

"Words too." Tifa closed her eyes and sang, the language, the accent strikingly unfamiliar now. Such beauty though, the way the words sounded though the meaning was beyond Aeris's understanding. Her friend stumbled over the lyrics and stopped when she opened her eyes and found Aeris still staring at her. "Sorry. Not used to an audience for that."

"That was Nibel then?" Tifa nodded. "People always talk about Midgar as this great meeting place of culture and language but-" Aeris shook her head. "Now I think about it, people all sound the same there. I've never heard anything like that."

Tifa shot her a rueful grin. "A long time since I last had occasion to speak it. So thank you for that if nothing else."

"Could you maybe teach me?"

"Sure." Tifa glanced around. "Never done that before so, ah, I apologise if I'm no good at this."

Aeris shuffled closer. "You'll be fine."

Tifa scratched at her cheek. "Okay. So, maybe we should start with the real basics. Like saying 'Hello'."

Learning the language took time - something the pair of them had in abundance. So much of Nibel was different to Standard. Word order, particles, word-gender. All of it new and strange to Aeris. She could sing Tifa's song at least; a pidgin-Nibel rendition. Tifa could explain some of the meaning of the song. And the meanings of some of the individual words, but there was something missing. Something was not translating between Nibel and Standard.

Disaster struck a week after they left Costa del Sol behind them. Both sufficiently skilled at fighting to deal with most monsters they encountered in the wilderness, though superior numbers were hard to defend against. And on one such occasion, a wolf-like creature took a liking to Aeris's bag and tore through the fabric before she could get near it. That forced them to share a tent for the nights that followed. But arriving in North Corel revealed another issue; their money was gone. A light-fingered resident in Costa del Sol? Some chance accident on the hike over?

The reason did not matter; there remained the issue of what to do now. Aeris hit upon the idea of performing - one Tifa swiftly rejected. "I can't sing in front of people." She was trembling. "I have trouble singing in front of you."

"I know." Aeris touched her arm. "Though you have a lovely voice and we could duet and it would be amazing." She carried on as Tifa opened her mouth to protest. "But I was thinking that I can't play an instrument and you can. So how about, I sing, and you accompany me?"

"Piano?" Tifa glanced at her hands and flexed her fingers. "It's been a long time. I might not be any good."

"I can't think of many other ideas for our situation," Aeris shot back. "I think this one would work."

Neither wanted to ask for help from those back home - and a whole new level of complication in addition. Tifa soon agreed and Aeris sought out the owner of the inn to negotiate a fee and time to perform. Not a wonderful deal in money terms, but it was the best Aeris could manage through a combination of charm and persuasion. Some money for the performance and the opportunity to sleep in the attic. Warmer than sharing the tent. That arrangement would need to persist until they could afford a replacement. Comforting to have Tifa there beside her each night. Sometimes it meant less sleep than intended as they murmured to each other until the early hours of the morning.

Tifa seemed nervous in the run up to their first performance; Aeris assured her everything would be fine. All she needed to do was play; Aeris would try and draw all their attention. Aeris sang as best she could that first night; the inn fell silent, all eyes on her as she sang. But when Aeris sang the Nibel song and her gaze met Tifa's, the other girl's face reddened. She refused to explain until bedtime when they holed up in the attic.

"It's-" Tifa's face flushed again. "It has a few meanings. One of them is-" She took a deep breath. "-for courtship." Aeris blinked; Tifa seemed to be waiting for her to say something. "If you sing it to someone- I mean, I know you didn't mean it like that, but it kind of meant-"

"Would you mind if I did mean it like that?" Aeris's stomach lurched at her own impulsive question.

Tifa was silent and for an awful long time it seemed Aeris had said the wrong thing. "No. I wouldn't mind in the slightest."


End file.
